A driverless train which had to be forcibly derailed when it got out of control would not respond to attempts to stop it leaving the yard, an interim report has found.

Two people were injured when the runaway train had to be diverted and derailed in Tasmania in September.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has outlined the measures taken by TasRail and Tasmania Police to protect the public as the freight train sped towards Devonport in the state’s north-west.

The preliminary report found that a worker loading freight wagons by remote control was close to finishing the job when a transmitter failed and could not be reset.

Two people were struck by debris from a fence and suffered minor injuries when the train carrying cement was deliberately routed into a dead-end siding opposite the Spirit of Tasmania ferry terminal.

The ATSB’s executive director of Transport Safety, Nat Nagy, said the train was being remotely loaded at a rail yard in Railton at about 8:42 am when it stopped responding to commands from the driver, who was outside the locomotive.

“The ATSB’s investigation has so far found that while loading, the last two wagons of the train were misaligned with the loading chute,” he said.

“The driver attempted to realign the wagons by selecting reverse on the remote control. However, the train was unresponsive.”

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